The Wiz of Odds

Columnists Corner

T.J. Simers, Los Angeles Times: UCLA's Rick Neuheisel is running out of time and excuses.

Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle: Stanford needed a lot of Luck if it was going to beat Oregon. It didn't get it and now the quarterback has lost his grip on the Heisman.

Cedric Golden, Austin American-Statesman: In one afternoon in Columbia, Mo., Texas went from stud to dud.

Gil LeBreton, Fort Worth Star-Telegram: In Boise, they were already taking votes for who they wanted Boise State to play in the Bowl Chanpionship Series title game. Then Texas Christian came to town.

Berry Tramel, Oklahoman: Oklahoma State did what great teams do: Smash an inferior opponent's hopes early and often.

Rick Cleveland, Clarion Ledger: The question was how much of a hangover would Alabama have from its bruising loss to Louisiana State? Mississippi State found out that it wasn't nearly enough of one.

Mike Hlas, Cedar Rapids Gazette: It was the defining game for Iowa and the Hawkeyes defined themselves as also-rans.

Columnists Corner

Kevin Scarbinsky, Birmingham News: Tip your hat to Les Miles after he stares down Nick Saban and his statue.

Jenni Carlson, Oklahoman: The Southeastern Conference's "Game of the Century" had nothing on Kansas State-Oklahoma State.

Chris Dufresne, Los Angeles Times: Louisiana State just won the "Game of the Century" — but which century is it?

Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports: Penn State's insufficient action amid child sex allegations is stunning.

Ron Morris, Columbia State: The clock ran out on a South Carolina team that was living on borrowed time. The Gamecocks were exposed Saturday night in a 44-28 thrashing by Arkansas, a game that wasn't as close as the score would indicate.

David Teel, Newport News Daily Press: With a bowl bid secured, it's time for Virginia to get greedy.

Tom Shatel, Omaha World-Herald: Call it the annual gag. Or the yearly hiccup. But until Nebraska learns to avoid this sort of glitch, there won't be any BCS bowls or conference championships in Bo Pelini's program.

Mike Hlas, Cedar Rapids Gazette: Rumors of Iowa's demise were greatly exaggerated.

Columnists Corner

David Teel, Newport News Daily Press: Virginia Tech is the nation's only program to win at least 10 games the past seven seasons. It's headed to an 18th consecutive bowl, is the first team to go unbeaten through the Atlantic Coast Conference since Florida State in 2000 and has won 10 games in a row since a bumbling 0-2 start.

Michael Rosenberg, Detroit Free Press: It shouldn't take long for Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon to decide the fate of Rich Rodriguez.

Bob Wojnowski, Detroit News: The latest loss to Ohio State shows that Michigan needs to make a coaching change.

Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: The future looks dim for Penn State.

Jeff Jacobs, Hartford Courant: Connecticut's resilience can't be underestimated.

Dick Weiss, New York Daily News: Boise State and Nevada deserve more respect.

T.J. Simers, Los Angeles Times: If a crummy team like Notre Dame can beat USC, then why not UCLA?

Columnists Corner

Pat Dooley, Gainesville Sun: Florida was terribly outplayed and terribly outcoached Saturday night in The Swamp. Something has to change.

Jeff Schultz, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Tackling isn't any better. Blocking isn't any better. Even the most basic of common-sense football moments — like, dude, the ball is on the ground, so fall on it — seem to leave Georgia Tech players looking perplexed, like preschoolers trying to comprehend chemical engineering.

Mike Hlas, Cedar Rapids Gazette: You believed this Iowa team could win the Big Ten title, could join the 2009 team as one that finished the season in the top 10, could be a truly special Hawkeyes squad that would do things matched by only a few of its predecessors in team history. You believed wrong.

Kurt Kragthorpe, Salt Lake Tribune: Utah has gone from conceivably contending for the national championship to just hoping the Las Vegas Bowl will take it.

Steve Politi, Newark Star-Ledger: Now we'll see how much patience the Rutgers fan base has left. Now we'll see if the diehards will stay loyal to Greg Schiano, the man who built this program and held it together under devastating circumstances this season. Or if they'll start to turn on him.

Cedric Golden, Austin American-Statesman: Texas' latest loss? Let's not talk about it.

Columnists Corner

Neill Woelk, Boulder Daily Camera: Five years ago, Colorado suffered what was believed to be the most embarrassing loss in team history when Texas destroyed the Buffs, 70-3, in the Big 12 championship game. But five years later, there's a new candidate for that ignominious place in Buff annals.

Mark Kiszla, Denver Post: It's time for Colorado to bring back Bill McCartney as coach.

Kevin Scarbinsky, Birmingham News: The only prizes left for Alabama are consolation prizes.

Tom Shatel, Omaha World-Herald: Here's how Nebraska left Iowa State's Jack Trice Stadium for the last time: by running. The Huskers ran like they stole something. And maybe they did.

Lee Barfknecht, Omaha World-Herald: Barring a collapse in Iowa State’s final two games, Paul Rhoads is going to get at least one vote for Big 12 coach of the year. Mine.

Gordon Monson, Salt Lake Tribune: Turns out the Utah Utes are pretenders — at least by the harsh measure at the highest level of college football.

Ferd Lewis, Honolulu Star-Advertiser: Boise State officially departs the Western Athletic Conference on June 30, 2011. In reality, the Broncos left it — and the Hawaii football team — behind a long time before the kickoff of yesterday's 42-7 thumping of the Warriors in Bronco Stadium.

Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star: There's no reason for Texas to be this bad.

Columnists Corner

Dave Sittler, Tulsa World: Who would have dared to dream six weeks ago that Tulsa, after a 37-point loss to Oklahoma State, would bounce back to beat college football's most storied program in its tradition-rich stadium. Well, believe it. The impossible dream came true: Tulsa 28, Notre Dame 27.

Eric Hansen, South Bend Tribune: It's about holding together a recruiting class teeming with answers to inherited problems. It's about standing up to perhaps the ugliest and scariest scrutiny of his life, both for the state of the program and for his decision to take his team outside Wednesday to practice on a blustery, and ultimately, fateful day. Yes, Brian Kelly has entered a stretch that likely will define his career.

Mark Bradley, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Alas, Georgia's coaching is no longer championship caliber.

Scott Anderson, Anderson Independent Mail: Clemson's Dabo Swinney is a glass half-full kinda guy, but this glass has a crack that is becoming much more noticeable.

T.J. Simers, Los Angeles Times: For UCLA, an eight-point loss is as good as it gets when not playing a Pac-10 team other than Washington State.

Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times: It was USC's title game, and Oregon kicked the BCS out of the Trojans.

David Teel, Newport News Daily Press: Virginia hadn't won an ACC game in 378 days and that helped make Saturday's 24-19 conquest of Miami the program's most unlikely upset since a 2005 beating of Florida State.